Sinking815
January 21st, 2007
A/N: Finally got around to finishing part two/three of Infidelity. Might wanna read that one first just to clarify some things, if you haven't done so already. It's a little AU and all but it's just sort of how I envisioned this situation playing out. As always, reviews appreciated!
Sawyer loved how she slept. It never ceased to amaze him how some people could curl themselves into a tight little ball and call it comfortable. He briefly wondered, as he watched her steal more of the light airline blanket, if it was a defense mechanism, learned from sleeping in places much more hostile than a sorry excuse for a tent on an island in the middle of nowhere. He shuddered when images of a damp and dark Australian holding cell came rushing back to him.
Sawyer grunted at the unwelcome memory and froze momentarily thinking the sound had woken her when Kate shifted in her sleep. She mumbled something incoherently under her breath before tucking her hands beneath her chin, one hand slipping into the ray of sun that had found its way past the shielding tarp. Carefully, Sawyer reached to readjust the blanket over her shoulder, leaning over her and trying desperately not to jolt her. He'd never admit it aloud, but Kate looked so peaceful when she was asleep and if he could spend the rest of his life doing nothing but watching her, he'd do just that.
A small smile teased the dimples from his cheeks when she clutched the blanket to her more tightly and snuggled deeper into her pillow. A smile that quickly disappeared the second he heard the sigh that escaped her slightly parted lips.
He stared at her with a look somewhere between disbelief and contempt, his eyes searching her face though it was nothing but a futile attempt to convince himself he hadn't heard that name. He might have snickered if she had whispered something along the lines of "Charlie", "Desmond", or "Sayid". He probably would have fallen into hysterics if she had said "Hurley" or "Locke". But she hadn't. It had been simple and unmistakable.
Jack.
Sawyer sat up, dumbstruck. He dragged a hand over his face and bit the inside of his cheek to muffle the string of obscenities dancing on the tip of his tongue. What in God's creation was she muttering his name for? Twisting to glance back at her, he cringed as her voice, gentle and breathless, repeated itself in her mind. His eyes roamed the gentle slope of the navy blanket eventually coming to rest on the loose curl that fluttered with her every invisible breath. He noticed her other hand had slipped from underneath its cover and was fisted loosely by her mouth.
That's when he noticed it. The bandage that had not been there when he had lost his own battle to sleep. And suddenly it all made too much sense.
Something like blind rage and a jealousy-fueled vengeance made him rise to his feet. He stepped over Kate, his fingers barely finding his plaid shirt he had chucked in the corner of the tent before finding himself another victim of the punishing late morning sun.
Squinting against the harsh light, his blue eyes searched the beach for one man. It took him a minute to recognize his target when he realized the tall silhouette he was looking for was kneeling by the firepit, well-protected from the heat overhead. Well, Sawyer thought, might just have to put Hero in the hot seat.
Contrary to popular belief, Sawyer wasn't the brash type. If he could avoid an all-out brawl, he did. But something raw and bitter was coursing through his veins, was making him see red in broad daylight. He wasn't looking for blood, but if blood was what he got, so be it.
"Mornin'" he drawled, easing himself on a halved-log. He glanced quickly from Jack to the person sitting opposite him and offered her a easy grin.
"Good morning, James," Juliet replied. Her hands never faltered as she peeled the mango in her hand and for a second, Sawyer wished that somehow she would just slip up for once. Even her enunciation was flawless.
There was a tense beat, one in which Sawyer watched Juliet eye Jack who continued feeding the growing fire twig after twig. The staccato of wood snapping seemed to reverberate a little too loudly through the echoing silence.
"Y'all sleep well?"
Jack hesistated, his grip clenching a bit too hard on the green branch in his hand. Something about this felt awkward and out of place. He forced a heavy breath through his tightening chest, snapping the wood with a resounding crack before chalking his suspicion up to paranoia. There was no way Sawyer could know about his liaison.
"Fine. How about yourself?" Juliet bit into her mango, wiping spilled juice delicately from her chin.
"Got a little cold last night," Sawyer said.
Jack kept his hands moving and his eyes down, though he could feel a slight sweat break out across his brow from the blue scrutiny.
"I'm sorry." She paused, chewing thoughtfully, and for a moment, Sawyer thought quickly to come up with a different angle. But she cut him off, casually tossing her hand towards Jack and perching on the edge of her seat.
"You know, Jack. We have that extra blanket we could…"
The doctor rotated towards her on the balls of his feet, nodding his indifference, when Sawyer saw his chance to strike.
"Blanket wasn't the problem," Sawyer quipped, his eyes sliding from Juliet's furrowed stare to Jack. "Ain't that right, Doc?"
Jack's hand froze midway between his knee and the next set of chopped logs, debating whether to face this blatant comment or to let it slide. His eyes darted left and right, his mind working out what either action would mean to the con and how to best hide his dark secret. He settled for feigned ignorance.
"I don't know what you're talking about," Jack said, putting on his best confused look.
The second his eyes found Sawyer's cocky smirk, Jack knew he had miscalculated somewhere. But dropping his gaze now would be the concrete tell he knew Sawyer was trying to coerce from him.
"I thought you would, Doc." The dimples in Sawyer's grin deepened. "You're the only one who dishes out the Band-Aids and peroxide." He paused and then threw an accusing look at Juliet. "Or are you a doctor too?"
"What's your point, Sawyer?" Jack felt his impatience slip a notch.
Sawyer leaned forward, feeling the burn from the growing flames flicker with rising heat against his face. He narrowed his eyes at the dark hazel stare on the other side of the orange glow.
"I'm saying that bandages just don't show up on people overnight," he said with a menacing tone. "So someone must have been makin' a midnight housecall…"
"Her hand was cut!" Jack snapped. "You should know better than anyone just how easily wounds like that can get infected!"
Jack stopped himself, midrant. The smirk had found its way to Sawyer's eyes and he could only feel something like shame flush his skin. The heat boring into him from the back and sides told him he was now the center of everyone's world.
"Well, well, well," Sawyer drawled, his eyes leaving Jack's to find Juliet's bewildered face. "Look who's got their hand in the cookie jar."
He glanced around, feeling outwardly pleased with himself and noticed how Claire mindlessly bounced Aaron, how Charlie and Hurley had stopped sorting fruit, how Jin and Sun stared blatantly, how Paulo and Nikki's hike had died completely.
There was an edge to her voice when Juliet's mind started to sort throug the facts.
"Just what are you insinuating, James?" she asked.
He heard her, but his eyes were back on Jack. He cocked his head arrogantly, his voice slipping to a whole new level of rage.
"I think Romeo here should break it…" he started.
"Break what?!" Jack cried, standing as if to magnify his voice right along with Sawyer.
"…to Miss Capulet that…"
"That what, Sawyer?"
"He's been sneaking around with my girl…"
Jack felt his patience give out.
"'Your' girl?!" he yelled, "If you had taken the time to notice…"
"Oh I noticed all right, Doc," Sawyer retorted, taking a dangerous step forward.
"… that 'your' girl was hurt…" Jack continued.
"Don't go there, Jack!" Sawyer snapped.
"… then maybe she wouldn't have come looking for…"
"I have a problem with…"
"Do you have a problem with me Sawyer?!"
"Yeah I have a problem with you!"
They were inches from insults becoming fists when a voice interrupted, far louder than either of them.
"STOP!"
They turned, shocked, a deathly silence falling around the camp. She was only one person, but even with sleep still in her eyes, she was a force to be reckoned with. Kate's face was furious with indignation and disgust. Her arms were folded high across her chest and it irked Jack and Sawyer to see her standing there in an over-sized button-down shirt.
"If you have any problems with anyone," she said, her green eyes spitting fury at Sawyer, "it should be me." She rounded on Jack. "And you," she said, thrusting out her bandaged hand, "shouldn't try to hide this."
Kate shook her head and let her hand fall helplessly to her side. She bit her lip and struggled with her next words.
"Look," she started, then paused, and shifted her weight. "This wasn't the best way for this to come out, but it was only a matter of time." She looked to Sawyer, her eyes searching for help she knew she didn't deserve. She nodded.
"You're right, you know," she said. "We didn't…" Kate swallowed and tried again, her words coming out through gritted teeth.
"He didn't just bandage my hand," she said softly, slowly. "But that's only because I begged for it."
Sawyer's look could've defined incredulous. Jack looked like he was balanced somewhere between ashamed and horrified. Juliet regarded the woman before her with a façade of disturbing calm.
"Are you saying, Freckles…" Sawyer's voice faded, not strong enough to voice the accusation out loud.
Kate swallowed and the look of sorrow in her eyes was all he needed to confirm his suspicions. He glanced back to Jack, who stood tensed and ready, his hands hanging in fists at his sides. Without taking his gaze off the doctor, Sawyer threw her a question she wasn't ready for, the hesistation in her answer, almost catching him off guard.
"Do you love him?" he asked.
She narrowed her eyes and was surprised to find herself nodding. Kate couldn't bring herself to find Juliet's eyes.
"I said, do you love him?" Sawyer ground out.
"Yes!" Kate cried. She turned to look at Jack. His hazel eyes stared at her with a pleasant disbelief. An quiet murmur rustled through the crowd. She nodded again. "I love him."
A tense silence fell over camp as stares were traded from Jack to Sawyer to Kate to Jack and back again. There was some sort of understanding being unspoken here and no one dared to interrupt the precarious quiet. Eventually Sawyer dropped his head in slight submission and gave Jack a quick once-over.
"You break her heart Doc…" The threat died with Jack's nod.
When people began to disperse, Jack found Kate's eye and opened an arm to her. She tried to maintain her composure, but the rush in the last few steps was obvious even to a stranger, and she threw herself into his embrace.
As Charlie and Claire watched the moment from nearby, they turned when Hurley's voice boomed from their left.
"Dude, what just happened?"
Finis